Until recently groundwater had been thought of as an ecological desert, however,
as the utilisation of groundwater has increased, due in large part to expansive resource exploration, new findings are increasingly supporting the concept that groundwater is actually surprisingly taxa abundant and diverse.
Groundwater assemblages, known as stygofauna, appear to be widespread and are generally characterised by high diversity and local-scale endemicity. Because of these characteristics, stygofauna have a strong potential to be valuable biological indicators and will likely become increasingly important in environmental monitoring projects.
Given the expected pressure on groundwater resources from resource exploration and water demand in a changing climate, developing a greater understanding of the number and types of stygofauna present in aquifers in Victoria is the first step to understanding the sustainable use and protection of Victoria’s groundwater ecosystems.
Stygofauna in Victoria are currently little understood and poorly documented. This project aims to develop an inventory of stygofauna across Victoria from 200 bores sites, selected based on areas with suitable water quality and depth for stygofauna, across the state bore monitoring network and additional bores from NGO’s such as Water Authorities.